Found a cool thing to do.

So today, I was watching The Jerk, and there's a part in it where they sing a neat ukulele song. So I'm like " that would be a neat song to cover."

Then it hit me.

TUNE YOUR BASS LIKE A UKE, You DAMN FOOL!

And then magic happened.


So if you get bored and want to try something new, tune up uke style.

I tuned my bass into fifths for a little while recently (CGDA from lowest pith to highest pitch) and it was pretty interesting had a bit of fun but the now C string was too floppy but i actually preffered the tension on the now G and D string.
Just out of curiosity what was the exact tuning of the uke?
In summary alternate tunings = cool

soprano or standard 13" (33 cm) 21" (53 cm) g'c'e'a' or a'd'f#'b'
concert 15" (38 cm) 23" (58 cm) g'c'e'a' or gc'e'a'
tenor 17" (43 cm) 26" (66 cm) gc'e'a', g'c'e'a', or d'gbe'
baritone 19" (48 cm) 30" (76 cm) dgbe'

I just tried that... the G string just came off, and all the other strings are rattling. Don't think I'll be trying that again.

Are the saddles supposed to be able to move if there isn't a string on it?

Pippynip wrote:I just tried that... the G string just came off, and all the other strings are rattling. Don't think I'll be trying that again.

Are the saddles supposed to be able to move if there isn't a string on it?

Yes the sadlles are supposed to move as there's no or little tension holding them in place now (if you tuned down).

No, I tuned up. The G string actually snapped off, and I'm now positive the rattling is coming from the truss rod, which must have also snapped. Gonna have to get a professional to sort it out... What have I learned from this?

That I'm learning to play bass, not to play an ukulele.

That shouldn't have happened. I think you tuned too high.

Nope. Tuner said GCEA like it should have done (well, it didn't get a chance to do A). I had it tuned to DGCF beforehand though, which is probably why it happened.

Oh dear......

Yeah that shouldn't have happened.. unless your setup was completely stuffed, the truss rod can stand quite a lot of punishment.
Your strings will give out way before the truss rod does (or should).
As for the string snapping, were they an old set?

Ah, I love alternate tunings. Really good fun to experiment.

Talking about that low C. My old band had a song that dropped down to that C (un-imaginatively it was called "The one in C", and came right after "The one in D". and yes, the strings did flop around good and proper.

You need a bit of skill to stop huge booming clackty clack noises coming through the amp...

Seemed a good idea at the time, lol.

Dmanlamius wrote:Ah, I love alternate tunings. Really good fun to experiment.

Talking about that low C. My old band had a song that dropped down to that C (un-imaginatively it was called "The one in C", and came right after "The one in D". and yes, the strings did flop around good and proper.

You need a bit of skill to stop huge booming clackty clack noises coming through the amp...

Seemed a good idea at the time, lol.

My old metal band always played in drop Db or C. Never had too much trouble with the flopitty flop. I just used larger guage strings a .115 cures the whole problem.

I love detuning.It gives me that tuck-crucka feeling

Dmanlamius wrote:Ah, I love alternate tunings. Really good fun to experiment.

Talking about that low C. My old band had a song that dropped down to that C (un-imaginatively it was called "The one in C", and came right after "The one in D". and yes, the strings did flop around good and proper.

You need a bit of skill to stop huge booming clackty clack noises coming through the amp...

Seemed a good idea at the time, lol.

we have a pretty heavy song that drops to C. The bass does really rumble on that one lol. I've actually come quite accustomed to playing in DGCF now, as all the bands songs are in that tuning, it feels weird when I tune back up and it used to be the other way around.

Pastichio wrote:we have a pretty heavy song that drops to C. The bass does really rumble on that one lol. I've actually come quite accustomed to playing in DGCF now, as all the bands songs are in that tuning, it feels weird when I tune back up and it used to be the other way around.

Try open G on a 5 string if you want rumble